(November 28, 2024, REUTERS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, November 26, he was ready to implement a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah, declaring Israel would retain “complete military freedom of action.”
In a television address, Netanyahu said he would put the ceasefire accord to his full cabinet later in the evening. Israeli TV reported that the more restricted security cabinet had earlier approved the deal.
The accord, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, was expected to take effect on Wednesday, November 27.
“A good deal is a deal that is enforced, and we will enforce it. With God’s help, we will establish security, we will rehabilitate the north and continue, united, until victory,” Netanyahu said.
“In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike.”
Israeli approval of the deal would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to four senior Lebanese sources who spoke to Reuters on Monday.
However, there was no indication that a truce in Lebanon would hasten a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in devastated Gaza, where Israel is battling Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Lebanon ceasefire agreement requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon’s army to deploy in the region, officials say. Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah has kept up rocket fire into Israel.
Netanyahu added that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire — to focus on Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest, and finally to isolate Hamas, the militant group that triggered war in the region when it launched an attack on Israel from Gaza last year.
Israel has dealt Hezbollah massive blows since going on the offensive against the group in September, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders, and pounding areas of Lebanon where the group holds sway.
Over the past year, more than 3,750 people have been killed in Lebanon and over one million have been forced from their homes, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
Hezbollah strikes have killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities.
(Production: Lee Marzel)
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